Notes on Wednesday’s Scorecard: Cards Miss Pujols
Good evening from Busch Stadium…
Let’s state the obvious: the Cardinals aren’t the same without Albert Pujols. They’ve played a full seven games since he went down with a strained calf muscle. In the first of the seven they erupted for 10 runs at Cincinnati. But things have bogged down since then, including two anemic performances the last two nights (three total runs scored) against the visiting KC Royals.
Over the last six games, the Cardinals are:
-batting .238
-slugging .369
- slacking with a .265 onbase percentage
The Cardinals have scored 17 runs over the last 6 games, or 2.8 per game.
If you want to throw in the 10-run attack at Cincinnati, it’s still only 3.9 runs per game.
That OBP stat (.265) is glaring, because from the start of the season through June 10, the Cardinals had an OBP of .356, and only the Cubs and Red Sox had a better rate in the majors during that time.
Clearly, some bad habits have creeped in; in the last six games Cardinals hitters have drawn only 8 walks, with 30 strikeouts. With Pujols in the lineup the team had averaged around 4.55 walks per game. In the last six games, they’ve averaged 1.3 walks per game. Granted, six games is a small sample size, and perhaps it is a mistake to draw any real value from those numbers. But for whatever reason, the patient ABs are fewer, some bats have stayed cold, or gone colder, with Pujols out of there.
Here are what middle-order guys are hitting over the last seven games without Pujols on the card:
Ankiel: 5 for 27, .185, .323 OBP, .481 SLG
* then again, Ankiel is batting only .214 since May 3.
Duncan: 5-28, .179, .207 OBP, .179 SLG
* then again, in his last 288 plate appearances, Dunc is batting .211 with five homers and a slugging percentage of .307.
Ludwick: 7-27, .259, .323 OBP, .481 SLG
* then again, Ludwick does have 5 RBIs as the No. 3 hitter in place of AP.
Glaus: 6-25, .240, .296 OBP, .520 SLG
* then again, he does have two homers since AP went out, and six this month.
Pujols is the hub of this lineup; everything evolves around him. He’s either getting on base nearly 50 percent of the time with hits or walks, or clearing the bases with his RBI swings. Without him at the core, are other hitters pressing, trying to do too much? Seems like it, given the strikeouts compared to the walks.
“Part of dealing with Pujols being out is, not talking about it,” manager Tony La Russa said. “So we don’t talk about it.”
But it’s a big loss.
“The games count whether or not Albert plays,” La Russa said. “So you can’t give into it.”
***
Nothing is bothering Skip Schumaker, except maybe LH pitchers. He had two more hits Wednesday and is drilling RH pitchers this season for a .356 BA, .411 OBP and .528 SLG. Only Chipper Jones (.395) has a higher BA in the majors vs. RH pitchers this season.
***
Kyle McClellan, who gave up two tee-shot solo homers in the 8th, took the loss in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to the Royals.
The rookie was the latest to take his lumps.
The Cardinals bullpen has been getting strafed of late, and the numbers are alarming.
Over the last 17 games (through Wednesday) the bullpen ERA is 6.00 and the relievers have allowed 10 homers, 15 doubles, three triples and a .301 BA in 57 innings.
Over those last 17 games, the bullpen has allowed 17 of 30 inherited runners to score, or 56.7 percent. That is, by far, the worst percentage in the majors during that time. When the other team has had runners in scoring position over the last 17 games, 60 percent have scored.
Not good.
-B
The last two nights have been due to the bullpen. It would appear that the workload & the juggling act of roles in the bully has finally caught up with the guys.
Is there some reason he used McClellan in the 8th last night instead of Perez? I thought they were set up to be Kyle in the 7th & Perez in the 8th. Not that it would have mattered, you could just kind of feel last night’s game slipping away when they didn’t tack on any more runs.